Like many websites, The Bill Stark Blog is all about making
money. Unlike most other websites,
however, the person who this blog makes money for is not me, the owner, but you, the reader. The only cost you pay
is typing in the URL to your web browser. I have a nice job and a comfortable
lifestyle thanks to the 10 Steps, protecting my family’s life from lifestyle creep, and using the most powerful financial tool in the world to keep us honest so I don’t need a side hustle of a website when I can instead return the favor to the
people who taught me how to get my financial life on track by paying that
knowledge forward.
From time to time I’ll be able to hand you special deals you
may not be able to get anywhere else that can save or earn you money. Sometimes
to get those deals I have to get paid as well. I’m going to explain how you can
always be certain I’m looking out for you, why I might offer something like
this, and prove that at The Bill Stark Blog it’s always about you coming away
more financially happy than when you arrived. After all, the highest “payment” I
get is when you post a link from us on Facebook or share us with your friends.
Plus, at the end of today’s piece I’m going to give you $5.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is when a company with a product pays
people for selling that product for them. A person puts a link on their blog or
website, readers view the link, click, and purchase. When that happens the
person who did the work of displaying the ad and drawing an audience gets paid
a portion of the sale. There are some big companies involved with affiliate
marketing, including Amazon and Ebay, but there are a lot of unscrupulous folks
as well and “advertisers” looking to get a quick buck by pushing a product or
service not because they care about it but because their commission through the
affiliate marketing is high.
Referral Marketing
Referral marketing is when a company offers a fee to a
blogger for “headhunting” up new clientele. This was common even before the
internet but it’s exploded as millions of people around the world came into
contact with one another more frequently. The concept is pretty simple: a
company has a product they want to sell. They give a marketer, for example a
blogger like me, a special code that gets posted on the marketer’s website and
when a reader clicks it and signs up for a product or service via the link the
marketer gets paid the agreed upon referral fee.
How referrals and affiliates work at The Bill Stark Blog
Because I’m not worried about The Bill Stark Blog making
money I will never push a product for purposes of just making a profit. When I
back something it’s because I believe it will benefit you (and often it’s
because I already use it myself!). If there is an affiliate or referral product
available here on the blog you will always know because you’ll see the
following:
·
A call out that the link is an affiliate or
referral link
·
An additional link to the product service that I
don’t get paid for
·
A link to this article highlighting how I manage
marketing here on the site
Why do it this way?
From time to time there are money saving services and
products that will benefit you and I will let you know about them. I don’t mean
“benefit you” like those hacks on late-night TV trying to sell you on the idea
that a contraption that de-seeds your oranges is the last thing between you and
eternal peace and happiness (but wait, there’s more!). I mean like a cell phone plan that can drop your bill by hundreds. You know,
something that will actually benefit you. When opportunities like that arise I may
provide you with an affiliate or referral link because if it’s something I
believe in and you’re willing to pay for it, I’m okay with getting a cut for
doing the work of bringing it to you from the seller. However I will always include a non-affiliate link
you can use instead from which I won’t get paid. That’s because you need to
know when I recommend something it’s because it’s beneficial to you, not me.
And I want you to be able to make sure I’m not biased from getting paid so that
you can always use the “Bill doesn’t get paid link” to buy things. So long as
you save money, The Bill Stark Blog is winning the fight. Finally, when posting
affiliate or referral links I’ll include a link to this article so people know
the difference between the two links and why they might prefer one over the
other.
How does this benefit me, the reader?
By managing affiliate and referral links in this fashion I
can provide you information about great products and services and make sure you know you can trust my
perspective because it’s not all about a buck. I can also offer you special
deals which require an affiliate or referral link that you wouldn’t be able to
get otherwise which saves you even more. For example, in the cell phone article
I linked above I managed a deal to snag my readers $25 off their phone bill if
they switch to Cricket Wireless, but only through my referral. Because Cricket
has super low cell phone rates, doesn’t charge a fee for switching (though you
may have to purchase a $10 sim card), and lets you use pretty much whatever
cell phone you want I feel comfortable repping them on the Bill Stark Blog. I
also switched to them a few months back and know personally that their product
is top notch and if you’re paying $50 or more for your cell phone plan you’re
throwing away money they could be saving you. You can click the image below to
save yourself $25 by switching to Cricket (and I get $25 too).
Per my affiliate marketing rules here’s a non-affiliate link to check Cricket out so you know I’m not bullshitting. To be clear: you don’t get
the free $25 bill credit if you use the non-referral link, but you still get
the same great cell phone service and that’s what matters to me. (See? I told
you it’s really not just about me making a buck).
Here’s $5
When you see me trying to “sell” something here on the site
you can trust that I’m always providing you an opportunity to take advantage of
a service or product that is awesome and likely one that I’ve personally used. I’ll
speak to why those things are awesome in the article where they presented so
you can decide for yourself, and I may even be able to provide a special offer
for you that you won’t get without an affiliate or referral link saving you
more (and yes, benefiting myself though the primary focus is you). Since not
all of you are looking to change your cell phone plans, my Cricket Wireless example
isn’t perfect. Instead I’m going to test my promise today with a larger referral
opportunity to show you I’m serious.
Though we try our best, every one of us spends some amount of money. It’s a hazard of
living life. Many of us shop at Amazon when we spend that money. Today I’m
going to bring you a chance to save yourself $5 the next time you shop at
Amazon by downloading their free app. If you already shop at Amazon then you
spend money there. You also do it online. Their app lets you continue doing
both of those things you already do, plus you get $5. That’s a no brainer, so
you might as well get a free $5 for downloading their app (or updating to the
latest version) and when you do I get paid too. Here’s the link:
Of course if you just want to check out the Amazon app without having it sold to you by me
(even though it’s free) you can do so here.
It’s (not) a livin’
So that’s how I handle marketing products and services here
on the Bill Stark Blog. The bottom line is always your bottom line so you’ll always clearly know when a link is a
marketing link, you’ll have an opportunity to use a non-marketing link, and you’ll
always be able to check back on this article for updates on these policies. At
the end of the day, The Bill Stark Blog isn’t about providing me a living it’s
about improving yours.
Enjoy your $5.
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